Musk Ox Bull in Panic, Northern Canadian Tundra, Musk ox
Fritz Goro
American, born Germany. 1901–1986
c. 1954
A gelatin silver photograph of a musk ox bull captured mid-stride on the northern tundra, made to dramatize the animal's panic and the elemental force of its Arctic setting.
You notice the dark, shaggy silhouette of the ox frozen in motion against a vast, grainy sky—its wet fur and strained posture reading like a raw, urgent presence on an otherwise spare, windswept horizon.
Dating from the 1950s, the image sits between scientific field record and expressive documentary photography, bringing remote Arctic wildlife into public view and shaping how nature’s drama was visually understood in mid‑century culture.
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
19 7/16 × 15 9/16" (49.3 × 39.5 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of the artist
Accession
69.1964
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
